Shock absorber



May 4 1926.

G. H. HIGGINS SHOCK ABSORBER original Filed July e, 1925 Patented May 4, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE H. HIGGINS, F ROCKFORD, ILIiIllTOISJ ASSIGNQR TO BURD HIGH COMPRESSION RING COMPANY, 0F ROCKFORIDQILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

- snocx ABSORBER.

' Application led July 6, 1925, Serial No. 41,57'5. Renewed March 6, 1926.

To all whom' 'it may concern:

' .Beit known that I, GEORGE H. HIGGINS, a citizen of the United States, residingat Rockford, in the 'county lof'VVinnebago and State of Illinois, have invented cert-ain new and useful Improvements vin Shockf Abf sorbers, of which the following is a specilication. v'

This invention relates to devices which are variously known on vthemarket as rebound or recoil checks, snubbers, shock ab-A sorbersetc.`, constructed for the purpose of checking the recoil of vehicle and other springs after they have been compressed or.

' expanded, and more particularly pertains to devices of this character, utilizing a H exible strapfcr connection of the device between two relatively Vmovable members of thel vehicle.

Modern tendencies in the design of vehicles, particularly automotive vehicles, are toward the provision of shorter land more rigid springs for frontl axle and body assemblies and toward larger, longer and assemblies. Thesel innovations, .together with the advent of the balloon tire, have resulted in much easier riding qualities of the vehicle, but have introduced a new prob- 3U lem that is well recognized. This is thev creation of billowing actions and reactions in the riding qualities of the vehicle and also the creation of a .proportionately greater spring action on smooth roads than thus arisesthenecessity of providing a different type of fshock absorber, operatingon principles very different from those known at the present time, wherein the retarding 40 tion actually takes effect.

Considering for an instant, lshock ab-` more flexible springs for rear axle and body do rigid, short springs and hard tires. There action is slow in taking effect and instan-Y v taneous in actlon when their operatlve funcof application of the power andthe point of time of gripping of the friction elements of the shock absorber, due to mechanical imunevenness in the .road surface, to attain considerable momentum in its rebound and expanding movements, before the friction elements or the spring or other retriever elements come into play to check 4the recoil or to retrieve the Astrap respectively. The design of these types of shock absorbers, having been such that the` friction elements did not' come into immediate elfective play, they afforded an extremely sudden checking of the rebound action of the Spring and vehicle when they did begin to act, thereby Stimulating rigid and uncomfortable riding qualities.

With my invention I am enabled to ever-l come the defects enumerated above, as well as vmany others, and provide a Shock ab-v sorbervof such character and principles of operation, that the recoil will be substantially instantaneously checkedwith increasing force and in suc a manner, that while the check is applied instantaneously upon recoil of the sprin of the vehicle, itis of minimum value at `1ts pointof initial application and gradually increases in value in ac- 'cordance with characteristics of the spring land its recoil movements.

With the vforegoing in mind, one of the objects -of my invention, is to provide a of the Spring beginsvand the time when thel snubbing device becomes effective and proportionately lncrease the rebound checklng action from mlnimum te maximum values as the rebound or-recoil of the Spring creases in` momentum` or force. In other words, my principal ob]ect is to amphfy, rather than decrease, movements of the 'str-ap, cable or other flexible, power 'apply ing element, so that for slight angular move-- ments of thestrap or cable, a greater corresponding movement tends tooccur between the surfaces which produce the snubbing'et.

Another object is to provide a shock ab sorber of the flexible vstrap vor cable type in accordance with the above noted well-known principle of mechanism which will overcome vthe many disadvantages of all prior-constructions-of the same type, while retaining their advantages. A

.A still further'obj ect is to provide a novel construction of shock absorber of the chars acter specified which may be arranged with the outside element or drum rigidly connected to the frame of a vehicle inorder'to give greater stability, rigidity and other advantages. hitherto unattained in any prior con.

struction and to provide a construction sirnple in' parts and operation. Many other objects and advantageous fea'- tures of the invention should become readily y apparent from the description and claims and .partly in section of a portion of the'. chassis of a Vehicle and vehicle axle having p connected to the spring thereof. The shock and from the drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a viewv partly 1n side elevation a shock absorber constructed in accordance with a preferred from of the invention ap- `automobile-chassis and'connected by means of' a flexible" strap, cab-le or the like n l v n l 3 vthrough a special mounting device 4-to the axle 5 ofv the' vehicle which is in turn absorber proper, generally designated 6, includes two telescoping cup shaped drums or members 7 and 8, and a bearing stud 9 se'- bled as shown in Fig. 2 with theV stationary cured to onemember or drum in such a manner that theldrum 8 may rot-ate with respect to the drum7 he bearing 'stud'9 1s adaptved to pass througlfrthe drum 8 with the drum 7 and is screwedjor' otherwise secured through the drum 7 and the Lesliaped bracket 10 tohold the parts together. yThe bracket 10 is provided with clowels 11 for reception in corresponding-recesses. formed in the rear of the drum 7 to-lock it against' rotation.

And it is also provided witli-fboltS, rivets or v other securing means 12 whereby'zitinay be adjustably secured to j a' secondiposition.

bracket 13 provided with a flange -14 and adapted to be secured'to the frame 2 of the machine. On the inner periphery of thc cylindrical flange 15 of the drum 7 a helical l spring 16 is secured at one end by rivets 17 cessed as at 20 to receive the cable 3 wound therein and secured thereto, respectively The drum 8 is also provided with an outwardly oti'set cylindrical portion 2l to which a cylindrical friction band 22 may be sccured as by means .of rivets 23.

vEach drum is preferably provided with an internal circular flange 24, concentric with the cylindrical flanges. 15-18-and 21 and each of these internalflanges iscut away as shown at 25 in Fig. 4, for the reception of the bent or hooked ends 26 of. the coiled spring27 lserving to retrieve the rotatable drum 8 and to absorb or take up theslack of the cable 3 during compression vmovements of the vehicle or other spring to which the cable 3 maybe connected. The slots or `arranged with respect to one another and .to the enids of thespring 27 that upon the assembly of thedruin 8 with the. sprino 27 within the drum 7, the ends of the springv will adjust themselves within the slots or cut away portions y25 in proper relation one vwith vthe other. ,Theseflanges 24 also aid in maintaining drum 8 concentrically aligned with respect to the drum 7 as well as serve to retain the spring 27 inits proper In order to keepthe mechanism in substantially dust proof condition I p'referto enclose the telescoping edges of the two drums withacirc-umferential flange extending radially inward toward the pulley surfaces of the drum 8.

Stamped from `sheet metal and formed with a suitable number of lug-portions 29 ywhich afterassembling of the parts, may be bent down to secure the housingabout the drums.

When tlie shock absorber has been asser-nplaced upon the spring 27 by adjustment of the bolts 12 in the bracket 13 or in any other manner.

It* yill thus be apparent that when Athe 'vehicle' springjcompresses or` as the portion 2 of the automobile. approaches the portion 5,

v'cut away portions 25 ofthe flanges 24 are so Vin the cylindrical band 28 which band has i This band 28may be formed of y any suitable materialjwhich is preferably the drum 8 will rotate in a counter clocks wise direction, `viewing Fig. 1,absorbing the slack of cable 3 and winding 'it upon the pulley surface 18; During this movement the friction material 22 engaging'with the inner surface of the helical spring 16 will tend Ato urge said springoutwardly toward the inner surfaceof the flangel which will then permit rotation of the drum 8 in th'is direction. lhen the vehicle spring gives its recoil movement, carrying the body-frame member 2 upwardly away from the axle 5,' tension will be placed upon the cable 3 and tlie-drum 8 will tend to rotate in a clock* wise direction.. Under the influence of the friction material v22, the spring 16 will tend to coil inwardlyand to be reduced in its diametric span, thereby gripping and iiicreasingly 'tightening upon the .friction surfaces and effectually snubbing orobraking movement of the dru'm 8 in a clockwise. di-l rection. From the foregoing it will befap'parent that I have provided vav unique construction for a shock'absorber embodying among its many features, a compactand rigid structure, a mechanism easy to manufacture and one that isbotli ,economical in `production anduse. rSome ofthe principles ofcoperation, while not broadly new, are'tnew in so far as they are embodied in the construction illustrated or in anyv construction similar thereto or within the terms of the appended claims and for this reason I -do not wish to be limited by the construction illustrated and describe y Iclaim:

1. A shock absorber comprising,- a station-` ary drum lhaving acylindr'eal flange, a helical spring element within vand secured t0 said flange at one end, the inner end of said elementbeing unsecured, a rotatable drum having a t cylindrical flange fittingx within said stationary dr'iimrvandfspring element, and a friction surfacing between theflange on said rotatable drum and said spring element and secured to lsaid rotatable diiim flange, whereby rotary movementof said rotatable drum in one direction will produce frictional gripping between said drums.

`2. A shock absorber comprising, Aa stationary drinn having a cylindrical flange, a

helical spring element within and secured at one end to said flange, the inner end of said spring element being'unsecured, a rotatable drum having acylindrical flange adapted to -fit within the flange ofthe stationary drum and spring element, a pulley surface on said 'rotatable drum of less diameter than the outside diameter of the flanged portion thereof, friction material secured to the p `drical drum, an axial bearing stud Exec outer face of the flange of the rotatable drii-m and adapted to contact with said spring element, and means for engaging-saith surface forrotating said rotatable drum -in one direction whereby said spring-and fric@ motion of said rotatable drum.

3. A `shock absorbercomprising, a stationary drum having -a`cylindrical'flange, a

helical spring'element within and secured byI f tion material will frictionall'yl retard rotary one end to said flange, the innerend of said spring element being unsecured, a rotatable drum having a cylindrical flange adapted to litwithin-.the flange of the stationary drum whereby said spring and'frictional material willsufficiently retard vrotary motion of said `rotatable drum, and means adapted to automatically v:return said rotatable drum to its initial position upon release ofsaid means for' rotating said rotatable drum. b 4. In a shock absorber, a stationary cylindrical drum, an axial bearing stud centrally disposed relative to said stationary drum, a

cylindrical drum mountedfor vrotation on said stud, said drums telescoping onev with the other, a friction surface on one of said `drums,-a resilient helical member connected at one end to the other of said drums and free atits other end to move circumferentially for gripping and releasing from said friction surface, sa'id resilient member being 'b adapted to frictioiially interengage said drums upon rotation of said rotary drum in a friction vsurface on one, of said drums, a resilient, helical-member connected at one end to the other ofl said drums and free at its inner end to move c ircumferentially for gripping and releasing from saidfriction surface, said resilient member being adapted to frictionally intereng'age said drums upon rotation of said rotary drum in one direc-y tion' and for release thereof upon rotation of said rotary drum in the opposite direction, means for rotating said rotary drum to pi'oduce said frictional interengagement of both drums,.and means foi rotating said rotary'- drum in the opposite direction. 6. ln a shock absorber, a stationary c j'.

with said stationary drum, a cylindrical drum'inounted for rotation onsaid stud,

ico

"one direction Vand for release thereof upon rotation of said. rot-ary drum in the opposite said drums telescoping one Within the other,

.a frictional surface-onone of said drurn's, a helical spring of substantially the saine length as the circumferential distanceI of the 'and for release thereof upon vrotation of said rotary drum in the opposite direction, and means for rotating said rotary drum 1n both v directions.'

f 7. In ashock absorber, a stationary drum, having a cylindrical flange, an axial bearing stud concentric with said'flange and fixed with said drum, a second drurn having a cylindrical flange of less 'diameter than the cylindricallange of said stationary drum mounted for rotation on said stud and in telesoping relation to the stationary drinn and-providing a chamber therebetween,y a friction. surface on said rotatable drum, a

resilient, helical member connected at one.

end to the inner-face ofthe flange of said stationary drum and extending into unatv tached connection With said friction surface,

said resilient member ,being adapted to frictionally interengage said drums upon rotation of said rotary drum in one direction and for release thereof upon rotation of said -rotary drum in the opposite direction, and means' for rotating said rotary drum in opposite directions.

In witness of the foregoing I .aix my signature.

l GEORGE-V H. HIGGINS. 

